Summary"Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common musculoskeletal disease occurring worldwide. Despite extensive research, etiology of OA is still poorly understood. Histopathological grading (HPG) of 2D tissue sections is the gold standard reference method for determination of OA stage. However, traditional 2D-HPG is destructive and based only on subjective visual evaluation. These limitations induce bias to clinical in vitro OA diagnostics and basic research that both rely strongly on HPG.
Objectives: 1) To establish and validate the very first 3D-HPG of OA based on cutting-edge nano/micro-CT (Computed Tomography) technologies in vitro; 2) To use the established method to clarify the beginning phases of OA; and 3) To validate 3D-HPG of OA for in vivo use.
Methods: Several hundreds of human osteochondral samples from patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty will be collected. The samples will be imaged in vitro with nano/micro-CT and clinical high-end extremity CT devices using specific contrast-agents to quantify tissue constituents and structure in 3D in large volume. From this information, a novel 3D-HPG is developed with statistical classification algorithms. Finally, the developed novel 3D-HPG of OA will be applied clinically in vivo.
Significance: This is the very first study to establish 3D-HPG of OA pathology in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the developed technique hugely improves the understanding of the beginning phases of OA. Ultimately, the study will contribute for improving OA patients’ quality of life by slowing the disease progression, and for providing powerful tools to develop new OA therapies."

"Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common musculoskeletal disease occurring worldwide. Despite extensive research, etiology of OA is still poorly understood. Histopathological grading (HPG) of 2D tissue sections is the gold standard reference method for determination of OA stage. However, traditional 2D-HPG is destructive and based only on subjective visual evaluation. These limitations induce bias to clinical in vitro OA diagnostics and basic research that both rely strongly on HPG.
Objectives: 1) To establish and validate the very first 3D-HPG of OA based on cutting-edge nano/micro-CT (Computed Tomography) technologies in vitro; 2) To use the established method to clarify the beginning phases of OA; and 3) To validate 3D-HPG of OA for in vivo use.
Methods: Several hundreds of human osteochondral samples from patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty will be collected. The samples will be imaged in vitro with nano/micro-CT and clinical high-end extremity CT devices using specific contrast-agents to quantify tissue constituents and structure in 3D in large volume. From this information, a novel 3D-HPG is developed with statistical classification algorithms. Finally, the developed novel 3D-HPG of OA will be applied clinically in vivo.
Significance: This is the very first study to establish 3D-HPG of OA pathology in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the developed technique hugely improves the understanding of the beginning phases of OA. Ultimately, the study will contribute for improving OA patients’ quality of life by slowing the disease progression, and for providing powerful tools to develop new OA therapies."

Max ERC Funding

1 500 000 €

Duration

Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31

Project acronymAge Asymmetry

ProjectAge-Selective Segregation of Organelles

Researcher (PI)Pekka Aleksi Katajisto

Host Institution (HI)HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO

Call DetailsStarting Grant (StG), LS3, ERC-2015-STG

SummaryOur tissues are constantly renewed by stem cells. Over time, stem cells accumulate cellular damage that will compromise renewal and results in aging. As stem cells can divide asymmetrically, segregation of harmful factors to the differentiating daughter cell could be one possible mechanism for slowing damage accumulation in the stem cell. However, current evidence for such mechanisms comes mainly from analogous findings in yeast, and studies have concentrated only on few types of cellular damage.
I hypothesize that the chronological age of a subcellular component is a proxy for all the damage it has sustained. In order to secure regeneration, mammalian stem cells may therefore specifically sort old cellular material asymmetrically. To study this, I have developed a novel strategy and tools to address the age-selective segregation of any protein in stem cell division. Using this approach, I have already discovered that stem-like cells of the human mammary epithelium indeed apportion chronologically old mitochondria asymmetrically in cell division, and enrich old mitochondria to the differentiating daughter cell. We will investigate the mechanisms underlying this novel phenomenon, and its relevance for mammalian aging.
We will first identify how old and young mitochondria differ, and how stem cells recognize them to facilitate the asymmetric segregation. Next, we will analyze the extent of asymmetric age-selective segregation by targeting several other subcellular compartments in a stem cell division. Finally, we will determine whether the discovered age-selective segregation is a general property of stem cell in vivo, and it's functional relevance for maintenance of stem cells and tissue regeneration. Our discoveries may open new possibilities to target aging associated functional decline by induction of asymmetric age-selective organelle segregation.

Our tissues are constantly renewed by stem cells. Over time, stem cells accumulate cellular damage that will compromise renewal and results in aging. As stem cells can divide asymmetrically, segregation of harmful factors to the differentiating daughter cell could be one possible mechanism for slowing damage accumulation in the stem cell. However, current evidence for such mechanisms comes mainly from analogous findings in yeast, and studies have concentrated only on few types of cellular damage.
I hypothesize that the chronological age of a subcellular component is a proxy for all the damage it has sustained. In order to secure regeneration, mammalian stem cells may therefore specifically sort old cellular material asymmetrically. To study this, I have developed a novel strategy and tools to address the age-selective segregation of any protein in stem cell division. Using this approach, I have already discovered that stem-like cells of the human mammary epithelium indeed apportion chronologically old mitochondria asymmetrically in cell division, and enrich old mitochondria to the differentiating daughter cell. We will investigate the mechanisms underlying this novel phenomenon, and its relevance for mammalian aging.
We will first identify how old and young mitochondria differ, and how stem cells recognize them to facilitate the asymmetric segregation. Next, we will analyze the extent of asymmetric age-selective segregation by targeting several other subcellular compartments in a stem cell division. Finally, we will determine whether the discovered age-selective segregation is a general property of stem cell in vivo, and it's functional relevance for maintenance of stem cells and tissue regeneration. Our discoveries may open new possibilities to target aging associated functional decline by induction of asymmetric age-selective organelle segregation.

Max ERC Funding

1 500 000 €

Duration

Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2021-04-30

Project acronymALGOCom

ProjectNovel Algorithmic Techniques through the Lens of Combinatorics

Researcher (PI)Parinya Chalermsook

Host Institution (HI)AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR

Call DetailsStarting Grant (StG), PE6, ERC-2017-STG

SummaryReal-world optimization problems pose major challenges to algorithmic research. For instance, (i) many important problems are believed to be intractable (i.e. NP-hard) and (ii) with the growth of data size, modern applications often require a decision making under {\em incomplete and dynamically changing input data}. After several decades of research, central problems in these domains have remained poorly understood (e.g. Is there an asymptotically most efficient binary search trees?) Existing algorithmic techniques either reach their limitation or are inherently tailored to special cases.
This project attempts to untangle this gap in the state of the art and seeks new interplay across multiple areas of algorithms, such as approximation algorithms, online algorithms, fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithms, exponential time algorithms, and data structures. We propose new directions from the {\em structural perspectives} that connect the aforementioned algorithmic problems to basic questions in combinatorics.
Our approaches fall into one of the three broad schemes: (i) new structural theory, (ii) intermediate problems, and (iii) transfer of techniques. These directions partially build on the PI's successes in resolving more than ten classical problems in this context.
Resolving the proposed problems will likely revolutionize our understanding about algorithms and data structures and potentially unify techniques in multiple algorithmic regimes. Any progress is, in fact, already a significant contribution to the algorithms community. We suggest concrete intermediate goals that are of independent interest and have lower risks, so they are suitable for Ph.D students.

Real-world optimization problems pose major challenges to algorithmic research. For instance, (i) many important problems are believed to be intractable (i.e. NP-hard) and (ii) with the growth of data size, modern applications often require a decision making under {\em incomplete and dynamically changing input data}. After several decades of research, central problems in these domains have remained poorly understood (e.g. Is there an asymptotically most efficient binary search trees?) Existing algorithmic techniques either reach their limitation or are inherently tailored to special cases.
This project attempts to untangle this gap in the state of the art and seeks new interplay across multiple areas of algorithms, such as approximation algorithms, online algorithms, fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithms, exponential time algorithms, and data structures. We propose new directions from the {\em structural perspectives} that connect the aforementioned algorithmic problems to basic questions in combinatorics.
Our approaches fall into one of the three broad schemes: (i) new structural theory, (ii) intermediate problems, and (iii) transfer of techniques. These directions partially build on the PI's successes in resolving more than ten classical problems in this context.
Resolving the proposed problems will likely revolutionize our understanding about algorithms and data structures and potentially unify techniques in multiple algorithmic regimes. Any progress is, in fact, already a significant contribution to the algorithms community. We suggest concrete intermediate goals that are of independent interest and have lower risks, so they are suitable for Ph.D students.

SummaryThe proposal consists of an extensive research program to advance the understanding of singular integral operators of Harmonic Analysis in various situations on the borderline of the existing theory. This is to be achieved by a creative combination of techniques from Analysis and Probability. On top of the standard arsenal of modern Harmonic Analysis, the main probabilistic tools are the martingale transform inequalities of Burkholder, and random geometric constructions in the spirit of the random dyadic cubes introduced to Nonhomogeneous Analysis by Nazarov, Treil and Volberg.
The problems to be addressed fall under the following subtitles, with many interconnections and overlap: (i) sharp weighted inequalities; (ii) nonhomogeneous singular integrals on metric spaces; (iii) local Tb theorems with borderline assumptions; (iv) functional calculus of rough differential operators; and (v) vector-valued singular integrals.
Topic (i) is a part of Classical Analysis, where new methods have led to substantial recent progress, culminating in my solution in July 2010 of a celebrated problem on the linear dependence of the weighted operator norm on the Muckenhoupt norm of the weight. The proof should be extendible to several related questions, and the aim is to also address some outstanding open problems in the area.
Topics (ii) and (v) deal with extensions of the theory of singular integrals to functions with more general domain and range spaces, allowing them to be abstract metric and Banach spaces, respectively. In case (ii), I have recently been able to relax the requirements on the space compared to the established theories, opening a new research direction here. Topics (iii) and (iv) are concerned with weakening the assumptions on singular integrals in the usual Euclidean space, to allow certain applications in the theory of Partial Differential Equations. The goal is to maintain a close contact and exchange of ideas between such abstract and concrete questions.

The proposal consists of an extensive research program to advance the understanding of singular integral operators of Harmonic Analysis in various situations on the borderline of the existing theory. This is to be achieved by a creative combination of techniques from Analysis and Probability. On top of the standard arsenal of modern Harmonic Analysis, the main probabilistic tools are the martingale transform inequalities of Burkholder, and random geometric constructions in the spirit of the random dyadic cubes introduced to Nonhomogeneous Analysis by Nazarov, Treil and Volberg.
The problems to be addressed fall under the following subtitles, with many interconnections and overlap: (i) sharp weighted inequalities; (ii) nonhomogeneous singular integrals on metric spaces; (iii) local Tb theorems with borderline assumptions; (iv) functional calculus of rough differential operators; and (v) vector-valued singular integrals.
Topic (i) is a part of Classical Analysis, where new methods have led to substantial recent progress, culminating in my solution in July 2010 of a celebrated problem on the linear dependence of the weighted operator norm on the Muckenhoupt norm of the weight. The proof should be extendible to several related questions, and the aim is to also address some outstanding open problems in the area.
Topics (ii) and (v) deal with extensions of the theory of singular integrals to functions with more general domain and range spaces, allowing them to be abstract metric and Banach spaces, respectively. In case (ii), I have recently been able to relax the requirements on the space compared to the established theories, opening a new research direction here. Topics (iii) and (iv) are concerned with weakening the assumptions on singular integrals in the usual Euclidean space, to allow certain applications in the theory of Partial Differential Equations. The goal is to maintain a close contact and exchange of ideas between such abstract and concrete questions.

Max ERC Funding

1 100 000 €

Duration

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31

Project acronymaQUARiUM

ProjectQUAntum nanophotonics in Rolled-Up Metamaterials

Researcher (PI)Humeyra CAGLAYAN

Host Institution (HI)TTY-SAATIO

Call DetailsStarting Grant (StG), PE7, ERC-2018-STG

SummaryNovel sophisticated technologies that exploit the laws of quantum physics form a cornerstone for the future well-being, economic growth and security of Europe. Here photonic devices have gained a prominent position because the absorption, emission, propagation or storage of a photon is a process that can be harnessed at a fundamental level and render more practical ways to use light for such applications. However, the interaction of light with single quantum systems under ambient conditions is typically very weak and difficult to control. Furthermore, there are quantum phenomena occurring in matter at nanometer length scales that are currently not well understood. These deficiencies have a direct and severe impact on creating a bridge between quantum physics and photonic device technologies. aQUARiUM, precisely address the issue of controlling and enhancing the interaction between few photons and rolled-up nanostructures with ability to be deployed in practical applications.
With aQUARiUM, we will take epsilon (permittivity)-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterials into quantum nanophotonics. To this end, we will integrate quantum emitters with rolled-up waveguides, that act as ENZ metamaterial, to expand and redefine the range of light-matter interactions. We will explore the electromagnetic design freedom enabled by the extended modes of ENZ medium, which “stretches” the effective wavelength inside the structure. Specifically, aQUARiUM is built around the following two objectives: (i) Enhancing light-matter interactions with single emitters (Enhance) independent of emitter position. (ii) Enabling collective excitations in dense emitter ensembles (Collect) coherently connect emitters on nanophotonic devices to obtain coherent emission.
aQUARiUM aims to create novel light-sources and long-term entanglement generation and beyond. The envisioned outcome of aQUARiUM is a wholly new photonic platform applicable across a diverse range of areas.

Novel sophisticated technologies that exploit the laws of quantum physics form a cornerstone for the future well-being, economic growth and security of Europe. Here photonic devices have gained a prominent position because the absorption, emission, propagation or storage of a photon is a process that can be harnessed at a fundamental level and render more practical ways to use light for such applications. However, the interaction of light with single quantum systems under ambient conditions is typically very weak and difficult to control. Furthermore, there are quantum phenomena occurring in matter at nanometer length scales that are currently not well understood. These deficiencies have a direct and severe impact on creating a bridge between quantum physics and photonic device technologies. aQUARiUM, precisely address the issue of controlling and enhancing the interaction between few photons and rolled-up nanostructures with ability to be deployed in practical applications.
With aQUARiUM, we will take epsilon (permittivity)-near-zero (ENZ) metamaterials into quantum nanophotonics. To this end, we will integrate quantum emitters with rolled-up waveguides, that act as ENZ metamaterial, to expand and redefine the range of light-matter interactions. We will explore the electromagnetic design freedom enabled by the extended modes of ENZ medium, which “stretches” the effective wavelength inside the structure. Specifically, aQUARiUM is built around the following two objectives: (i) Enhancing light-matter interactions with single emitters (Enhance) independent of emitter position. (ii) Enabling collective excitations in dense emitter ensembles (Collect) coherently connect emitters on nanophotonic devices to obtain coherent emission.
aQUARiUM aims to create novel light-sources and long-term entanglement generation and beyond. The envisioned outcome of aQUARiUM is a wholly new photonic platform applicable across a diverse range of areas.

Max ERC Funding

1 499 431 €

Duration

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

Project acronymCALLIOPE

ProjectvoCAL articuLations Of Parliamentary Identity and Empire

Researcher (PI)Josephine HOEGAERTS

Host Institution (HI)HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO

Call DetailsStarting Grant (StG), SH5, ERC-2017-STG

SummaryWhat did politicians sound like before they were on the radio and television? The fascination with politicians’ vocal characteristics and quirks is often connected to the rise of audio-visual media. But in the age of the printed press, political representatives also had to ‘speak well’ – without recourse to amplification.
Historians and linguists have provided sophisticated understandings of the discursive and aesthetic aspects of politicians’ language, but have largely ignored the importance of the acoustic character of their speech. CALLIOPE studies how vocal performances in parliament have influenced the course of political careers and political decision making in the 19th century. It shows how politicians’ voices helped to define the diverse identities they articulated. In viewing parliament through the lens of audibility, the project offers a new perspective on political representation by reframing how authority was embodied (through performances that were heard, rather than seen). It does so for the Second Chamber in Britain and France, and in dialogue with ‘colonial’ modes of speech in Kolkata and Algiers, which, we argue, exerted considerable influence on European vocal culture.
The project devises an innovative methodological approach to include the sound of the human voice in studies of the past that precede acoustic recording. Adapting methods developed in sound studies and combining them with the tools of political history, the project proposes a new way to analyse parliamentary reporting, while also drawing on a variety of sources that are rarely connected to the history of politics.
The main source material for the study comprise transcripts of parliamentary speech (official reports and renditions by journalists). However, the project also mobilizes educational, satirical and fictional sources to elucidate the convoluted processes that led to the cultivation, exertion, reception and evaluation of a voice ‘fit’ for nineteenth-century politics.

What did politicians sound like before they were on the radio and television? The fascination with politicians’ vocal characteristics and quirks is often connected to the rise of audio-visual media. But in the age of the printed press, political representatives also had to ‘speak well’ – without recourse to amplification.
Historians and linguists have provided sophisticated understandings of the discursive and aesthetic aspects of politicians’ language, but have largely ignored the importance of the acoustic character of their speech. CALLIOPE studies how vocal performances in parliament have influenced the course of political careers and political decision making in the 19th century. It shows how politicians’ voices helped to define the diverse identities they articulated. In viewing parliament through the lens of audibility, the project offers a new perspective on political representation by reframing how authority was embodied (through performances that were heard, rather than seen). It does so for the Second Chamber in Britain and France, and in dialogue with ‘colonial’ modes of speech in Kolkata and Algiers, which, we argue, exerted considerable influence on European vocal culture.
The project devises an innovative methodological approach to include the sound of the human voice in studies of the past that precede acoustic recording. Adapting methods developed in sound studies and combining them with the tools of political history, the project proposes a new way to analyse parliamentary reporting, while also drawing on a variety of sources that are rarely connected to the history of politics.
The main source material for the study comprise transcripts of parliamentary speech (official reports and renditions by journalists). However, the project also mobilizes educational, satirical and fictional sources to elucidate the convoluted processes that led to the cultivation, exertion, reception and evaluation of a voice ‘fit’ for nineteenth-century politics.

SummaryCancer progression, characterized by uncontrolled proliferation and motility of cells, is a complex and deadly process. Integrins, a major cell surface adhesion receptor family, are transmembrane proteins known to regulate cell behaviour by transducing extracellular signals to cytoplasmic protein complexes. We and others have shown that recruitment of specific protein complexes by the cytoplasmic domains of integrins is important in tumorigenesis. Here our aim is to study three interrelated processes in cancer progression which involve integrin signalling, but which have not been elucidated earlier at all. 1) Integrins in cell division (cytokinesis). Since coordinated action of the cytoskeleton and membranes is needed both for cell division and motility, shared integrin functions can regulate both events. 2) Dynamic integrin signalosomes at the leading edge of invading cells. Spatially and temporally regulated, integrin-protein complexes at the front of infiltrating cells are likely to dictate the movement of cancer cells in tissues. 3) Transmembrane segments of integrins as scaffolds for integrin signalling. In addition to cytosolic proteins, integrins most likely interact with proteins within the membrane resulting into new signalling modalities. In this proposal we will use innovative, modern and even unconventional techniques (such as RNAi and live-cell arrays detecting integrin traffic, cell motility and multiplication, laser-microdissection, proteomics and bacterial-two-hybrid screens) to unravel these new integrin functions, for which we have preliminary evidence. Each project will give fundamentally novel mechanistic insight into the role of integrins in cancer. Moreover, these interdisciplinary new openings will increase our understanding in cancer progression in general and will open new possibilities for therapeutic intervention targeting both cancer proliferation and dissemination in the body.

Cancer progression, characterized by uncontrolled proliferation and motility of cells, is a complex and deadly process. Integrins, a major cell surface adhesion receptor family, are transmembrane proteins known to regulate cell behaviour by transducing extracellular signals to cytoplasmic protein complexes. We and others have shown that recruitment of specific protein complexes by the cytoplasmic domains of integrins is important in tumorigenesis. Here our aim is to study three interrelated processes in cancer progression which involve integrin signalling, but which have not been elucidated earlier at all. 1) Integrins in cell division (cytokinesis). Since coordinated action of the cytoskeleton and membranes is needed both for cell division and motility, shared integrin functions can regulate both events. 2) Dynamic integrin signalosomes at the leading edge of invading cells. Spatially and temporally regulated, integrin-protein complexes at the front of infiltrating cells are likely to dictate the movement of cancer cells in tissues. 3) Transmembrane segments of integrins as scaffolds for integrin signalling. In addition to cytosolic proteins, integrins most likely interact with proteins within the membrane resulting into new signalling modalities. In this proposal we will use innovative, modern and even unconventional techniques (such as RNAi and live-cell arrays detecting integrin traffic, cell motility and multiplication, laser-microdissection, proteomics and bacterial-two-hybrid screens) to unravel these new integrin functions, for which we have preliminary evidence. Each project will give fundamentally novel mechanistic insight into the role of integrins in cancer. Moreover, these interdisciplinary new openings will increase our understanding in cancer progression in general and will open new possibilities for therapeutic intervention targeting both cancer proliferation and dissemination in the body.

Max ERC Funding

1 529 369 €

Duration

Start date: 2008-08-01, End date: 2013-07-31

Project acronymCLIMASLOW

ProjectSlowing Down Climate Change: Combining Climate Law and Climate Science to Identify the Best Options to Reduce Emissions of Short-Lived Climate Forcers in Developing Countries

Researcher (PI)Kati Marjo Johanna Kulovesi

Host Institution (HI)ITA-SUOMEN YLIOPISTO

Call DetailsStarting Grant (StG), SH2, ERC-2015-STG

SummaryThe ClimaSlow project opens new interdisciplinary horizons to identify the best opportunities to enhance the global legal and regulatory framework for reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCFs), with particular attention to developing countries as projected key sources of future SLCF emissions. It proceeds from the assumption that strengthening the global legal and regulatory framework for SLCFs would bring important benefits in terms of slowing down climate change and reducing local air pollution. However, legal and regulatory options to step up action on SLCFs have not been studied comprehensively. Furthermore, the climate impacts of the various options are not adequately understood.
In contrast to traditional legal analysis that would focus one legal system or instrument, the project will study the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks comprehensively, considering the international, regional, national and transnational levels. It will seek to identify various options, both formal legal instruments and informal regulatory initiatives, to strengthen the global legal and regulatory frameworks applicable to SLCFs. In addition to providing information on best options to regulate SLCFs, this novel, comprehensive approach will help scholars to improve their understanding of the implications of ongoing changes in global legal landscape, including its presumed fragmentation and deformalisation.
Addressing an important gap in current knowledge, the project will combine analysis of the merits of the various legal and regulatory options with estimates of their climate change impacts on the basis of climate modeling. This way, it will be able to identify the alternatives that are the most promising both from the legal point of view and in terms of climate change mitigation potential. The project will generate information that is policy-relevant and context-specific but can simultaneously provide broader lessons and open new interdisciplinary horizons.

The ClimaSlow project opens new interdisciplinary horizons to identify the best opportunities to enhance the global legal and regulatory framework for reducing emissions of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCFs), with particular attention to developing countries as projected key sources of future SLCF emissions. It proceeds from the assumption that strengthening the global legal and regulatory framework for SLCFs would bring important benefits in terms of slowing down climate change and reducing local air pollution. However, legal and regulatory options to step up action on SLCFs have not been studied comprehensively. Furthermore, the climate impacts of the various options are not adequately understood.
In contrast to traditional legal analysis that would focus one legal system or instrument, the project will study the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks comprehensively, considering the international, regional, national and transnational levels. It will seek to identify various options, both formal legal instruments and informal regulatory initiatives, to strengthen the global legal and regulatory frameworks applicable to SLCFs. In addition to providing information on best options to regulate SLCFs, this novel, comprehensive approach will help scholars to improve their understanding of the implications of ongoing changes in global legal landscape, including its presumed fragmentation and deformalisation.
Addressing an important gap in current knowledge, the project will combine analysis of the merits of the various legal and regulatory options with estimates of their climate change impacts on the basis of climate modeling. This way, it will be able to identify the alternatives that are the most promising both from the legal point of view and in terms of climate change mitigation potential. The project will generate information that is policy-relevant and context-specific but can simultaneously provide broader lessons and open new interdisciplinary horizons.

SummaryKey words: Atmospheric secondary organic aerosol, chemical ionization mass spectrometry
The increase in anthropogenic atmospheric aerosol since the industrial revolution has considerably mitigated the global warming caused by concurrent anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, the uncertainty in the magnitude of the aerosol climate influence is larger than that of any other man-made climate-perturbing component.
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is one of the most prominent aerosol types, yet a detailed mechanistic understanding of its formation process is still lacking. We recently presented the ground-breaking discovery of a new important compound group in our publication in Nature: a prompt and abundant source of extremely low-volatility organic compounds (ELVOC), able to explain the majority of the SOA formed from important atmospheric precursors.
Quantifying the atmospheric role of ELVOCs requires further focused studies and I will start a research group with the main task of providing a comprehensive, quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the formation and evolution of SOA. Our recent discovery of an important missing component of SOA highlights the need for comprehensive chemical characterization of both the gas and particle phase composition.
This project will use state-of-the-art chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS), which was critical also in the detection of the ELVOCs. We will extend the applicability of CIMS techniques and conduct innovative experiments in both laboratory and field settings using a novel suite of instrumentation to achieve the goals set out in this project.
We will provide unprecedented insights into the compounds and mechanisms producing SOA, helping to decrease the uncertainties in assessing the magnitude of aerosol effects on climate. Anthropogenic SOA contributes strongly to air quality deterioration as well and therefore our results will find direct applicability also in this extremely important field.

Key words: Atmospheric secondary organic aerosol, chemical ionization mass spectrometry
The increase in anthropogenic atmospheric aerosol since the industrial revolution has considerably mitigated the global warming caused by concurrent anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. However, the uncertainty in the magnitude of the aerosol climate influence is larger than that of any other man-made climate-perturbing component.
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is one of the most prominent aerosol types, yet a detailed mechanistic understanding of its formation process is still lacking. We recently presented the ground-breaking discovery of a new important compound group in our publication in Nature: a prompt and abundant source of extremely low-volatility organic compounds (ELVOC), able to explain the majority of the SOA formed from important atmospheric precursors.
Quantifying the atmospheric role of ELVOCs requires further focused studies and I will start a research group with the main task of providing a comprehensive, quantitative and mechanistic understanding of the formation and evolution of SOA. Our recent discovery of an important missing component of SOA highlights the need for comprehensive chemical characterization of both the gas and particle phase composition.
This project will use state-of-the-art chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS), which was critical also in the detection of the ELVOCs. We will extend the applicability of CIMS techniques and conduct innovative experiments in both laboratory and field settings using a novel suite of instrumentation to achieve the goals set out in this project.
We will provide unprecedented insights into the compounds and mechanisms producing SOA, helping to decrease the uncertainties in assessing the magnitude of aerosol effects on climate. Anthropogenic SOA contributes strongly to air quality deterioration as well and therefore our results will find direct applicability also in this extremely important field.

Max ERC Funding

1 892 221 €

Duration

Start date: 2015-03-01, End date: 2020-02-29

Project acronymCOMPUTED

ProjectComputational User Interface Design

Researcher (PI)Antti Olavi Oulasvirta

Host Institution (HI)AALTO KORKEAKOULUSAATIO SR

Call DetailsStarting Grant (StG), PE6, ERC-2014-STG

SummaryPROBLEM: Despite extensive research on human-computer interaction (HCI), no method exists that guarantees the optimal or even a provably good user interface (UI) design. The prevailing approach relies on heuristics and iteration, which can be costly and even ineffective, because UI design often involves combinatorially hard problems with immense design spaces, multiple objectives and constraints, and complex user behavior.
OBJECTIVES: COMPUTED establishes the foundations for optimizing UI designs. A design can be automatically optimized to given objectives and constraints by using combinatorial optimization methods that deploy predictive models of user behavior as objective functions. Although previous work has shown some improvements to usability, the scope has been restricted to keyboards and widgets. COMPUTED researches methods that can vastly expand the scope of optimizable problems. First, algorithmic support is developed for acquiring objective functions that cover the main human factors in a given HCI task. Second, formal analysis of decision problems in UI design allows combating a broader range of design tasks with efficient and appropriate optimization methods. Third, a novel interactive UI optimization paradigm for UI designers promotes fast convergence to good results even in the face of uncertainty and incomplete knowledge.
IMPACT: Combinatorial UI optimization offers a strong complement to the prevailing design approaches. Because the structured search process has a high chance of finding good solutions, optimization could improve the quality of interfaces used in everyday life. Optimization can also increase cost-efficiency, because reference to optimality can eliminate fruitless iteration. Moreover, because no preknowledge of UI design is required, even novices will be able to design great UIs. Even in “messy,” less well-defined problems, it may support designers by allowing them to delegate the solving of well-known sub-problems.

PROBLEM: Despite extensive research on human-computer interaction (HCI), no method exists that guarantees the optimal or even a provably good user interface (UI) design. The prevailing approach relies on heuristics and iteration, which can be costly and even ineffective, because UI design often involves combinatorially hard problems with immense design spaces, multiple objectives and constraints, and complex user behavior.
OBJECTIVES: COMPUTED establishes the foundations for optimizing UI designs. A design can be automatically optimized to given objectives and constraints by using combinatorial optimization methods that deploy predictive models of user behavior as objective functions. Although previous work has shown some improvements to usability, the scope has been restricted to keyboards and widgets. COMPUTED researches methods that can vastly expand the scope of optimizable problems. First, algorithmic support is developed for acquiring objective functions that cover the main human factors in a given HCI task. Second, formal analysis of decision problems in UI design allows combating a broader range of design tasks with efficient and appropriate optimization methods. Third, a novel interactive UI optimization paradigm for UI designers promotes fast convergence to good results even in the face of uncertainty and incomplete knowledge.
IMPACT: Combinatorial UI optimization offers a strong complement to the prevailing design approaches. Because the structured search process has a high chance of finding good solutions, optimization could improve the quality of interfaces used in everyday life. Optimization can also increase cost-efficiency, because reference to optimality can eliminate fruitless iteration. Moreover, because no preknowledge of UI design is required, even novices will be able to design great UIs. Even in “messy,” less well-defined problems, it may support designers by allowing them to delegate the solving of well-known sub-problems.